oxygen, the cable channel for women ages 18-49 (according to their press release) - recently purchased by NBC for $925 million - is rebranding. this means dumping the old “oh!” logo, for a sleeker, yellower look (seen above on mo’nique, host of oxygen’s show F.A.T. chance).
i became interested in this because i noticed a print ad at the 49th street NRW station displaying the new logo and describing their target audience as the “O generation : trenders, spenders and recommenders.” the ad was emblazoned with the wedding-ring-like symbol and featured ‘attractive and diverse’ women seeming to march through a mall with shopping bags in tote. surprise: this disturbed me.
when i got home, i read this article about how oxygen is basically targeting young women who want to look good and feel good, and are comfortable spending money on means to do so (read: rich). to me it was just another nauseating example of how our society marginalizes women by persuading them to think they are only worth what they buy - namely what they buy to make them look better. despite the catchiness of the rhyme, witnessing the embodiment of the idea of a cycle of consumerism irks me even without being attached to a misogynistic agenda - making this double-’ew.’
on the other hand, in some ways i am a trender, spender and recommender myself. and i do enjoy the cheesiness of some of oxygen’s programming (whenever i get a chance to flick on to it at my parents’ house - i don’t own a television) - but i still say lifetime’s better.
but whatever superficial attraction i may have to this kind of material it is seriously outweighed by my awareness of the societal dangers it induces and more importantly by the fact that my generation (men and women) is being forced to claim yet another fucking letter.
Tags: branding, feminism, gender, logo, mo'nique, oxygen, television, women